who was the most influential in the sport?

Bigfoot
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Bigfoot 9/27/2017 9:12am
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FWYT
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FWYT 9/27/2017 9:41am
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Bruce Brown
Motoxdoc
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Motoxdoc 9/27/2017 10:13am
9/27/2017 10:13am Edited Date/Time 9/27/2017 10:27am
mauidex wrote:
based on that stewart thread this is a good topic for debate.............who was most influential to the sport?? 50 years is a long time.........just off top...
based on that stewart thread this is a good topic for debate.............who was most influential to the sport?? 50 years is a long time.........just off top of my head in no particular order

Roger
Hannah
Johnson
McGrath
RC
Pastrami
Stewart
Dungy

a lot of good arguments for allDizzy Dizzy
RD and Hannah were fairly influential but I wouldn't say any of the rest on that list were even close to Edison Dye or John Penton.

A racer isn't influential just because he's fast. If not for Edison Dye, James Stewart might have never raced MX. If not for John Penton, KTM might have never existed.
Rupert X
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Rupert X 9/27/2017 10:24am
9/27/2017 10:24am


These were two of my many early influences...

The Shop

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FreshTopEnd
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FreshTopEnd 9/27/2017 12:28pm
9/27/2017 12:28pm Edited Date/Time 9/27/2017 12:30pm
What people today can't really appreciate if you weren't there is what an infant MX was in the US when RD joined a pack of euros to come over here for Inter Ams and Trans AMA races. RD and Suzuki (Wolsink, too) sticking with the Trans AMA series after 74, when most Euro riders stopped coming, were huge influences in the 70's getting MX planted here and inspiring a younger generation of riders like Hannah and Smitty.

I think Mikkola probably was better than RD, but he stopped coming here after 74 except for USGP's and to this day remains a bit of an enigma, while RD was the face of the sport for a good 8 years or so during his Suzuki era.
BobPA
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BobPA 9/27/2017 12:52pm
9/27/2017 12:52pm


Definitely the most influence on the modern style.

TXDirt
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TXDirt 9/27/2017 12:54pm
9/27/2017 12:54pm
rjg wrote:
In most cases, the most influential are the unsung hero's all sports..... Mom and Dad. From a 35 year old.
X2

That's what I said on page one.
twotwosix
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twotwosix 9/27/2017 1:05pm
9/27/2017 1:05pm
Has to be MC or RC.
TeamGreen
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TeamGreen 9/27/2017 1:12pm
9/27/2017 1:12pm
MC
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jnickell 9/27/2017 2:05pm
9/27/2017 2:05pm
This question really needs to be broken out into different facets of influence.

Who had the most influence in the sport regarding _______?

Options for the ________?
riding technique. (modern or before single shock)
bringing the sport to the US. (Is that post Edison Dye, if not, it's clearly Edison Dye)
popularizing the sport. (this is definitely a generational thing)
motorcycle engineering.
training.
practice techniques.
getting people to watch.
getting people to participate.
professionalism.

The list goes on. I still put Roger D. the top of the list because he didn't influence singularly. He had his hand deep in many of the items I listed above. Did James Stewart change how everyone had to ride? Sort of. He did introduce a specific technique that definitely made everyone learn it. Did he help bring an entire sport to one of the greatest sporting nations (US)? Nope, it was already here. My point is that James definitely influence riding technique to the point of EVERYONE must learn to scrub. In my opinion, Ricky didn't introduce fitness to the sport, it was already here. Ask Mark Barnett or any of those dudes. Did they have someone like Aldon Baker? nope. But they would have if it were available. They did have Jeff Spencer back then though but from what I remember, only Team Honda had him.

In summary, we can all name a guy that influenced us personally but that doesn't mean others that didn't influence you were't equally influential to other aspects of the sport.
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xr70 9/27/2017 3:25pm
9/27/2017 3:25pm
Brad460 wrote:
Damon Bradshaw
+1 That guy was a baaaaaaaaad ass !
mauidex
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mauidex 9/27/2017 4:33pm
9/27/2017 4:33pm
great responses everyone..........and big props that it didn't turn into a hate fest on anyones opinion..........didnt mean to just list in OP just those guys, just a quick thought..........yes for sure it is like the Nascar hall of fame, lots of guys had influence for many reasons, promoters, car owners, drivers, sponsors.............moto that way too...........well hoping that our 2017 team, led by the man, this weekend can stop the losing streak and add to our list of accomplishments!!Cool Cool
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TogaSet 9/27/2017 5:14pm
9/27/2017 5:14pm Edited Date/Time 9/27/2017 5:19pm
Carmichael. No more partying on the lake. You want to win now your game better be perfect. Because the guy on the gate next to you has a trainer and is eating chicken and broccoli after 40 minute motos with his riding coach. He took MC down and it wasn't with talent.
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drt410 9/27/2017 5:39pm
9/27/2017 5:39pm
drt410 wrote:
Yea from what I remember McGrath was right at the end of his career and beat Carmichael flat out in 2000. Carmichael had a lot of...
Yea from what I remember McGrath was right at the end of his career and beat Carmichael flat out in 2000. Carmichael had a lot of growing pains that first year and didn't ride good at all but everyone knew what was coming. Then in 2000 McGrath won the championship but everyone saw that Carmichael was coming into form he was getting better and better the whole year and won I believe 1 race. Then in 2001 he finally rounded into form and came in like 3rd the first race then him and McGrath went back and forth a couple times and then after that Carmichael won I believe every single race from there on out and the rest was history. One of those races was the infamous look over by both of them where they hit a huge triple and both looked over at each other and it was kind of like the passing of the torch passing happened right then and there on that triple.

From that point on McGrath chased him around for a couple years, retied, tried to come back on a ktm- the bike sucked and he retired again before the first race. Then he came back for races here and there but never raced a full season again and Carmichael went on to become the greatest rider in the history of the sport, never losing a championship that he lined up for in his entire career. In 2003 he crashed in practice and tore his ACL keeping him out of the 2004 supercross season- this is the one Chad Reed won.
SoCalMX70 wrote:
Can't really say RC "never lost a championship he lined for his entire career". I mean, he still lost in 1999 and 2000. ;) I've noticed...
Can't really say RC "never lost a championship he lined for his entire career". I mean, he still lost in 1999 and 2000. Wink I've noticed that people (not directed at you) tend to forget he was in the 250s for a couple years before he turned it around. 1999 was definitely a warm up year and he always said he wished he stayed in 125s for one more year. He also said many times that the intention was to win in 2000 and he absolutely HATED how bad he got beat that year... This is where he figured out he needed a drastic change in his life.

Another tidbit about 2000 is that RC wasn't even MC's main competition. It was Vuillemin. RC only won Daytona, which favored his outdoor style big time. From what my memory serves he was never a real threat in any other race. Even when he started toward the front, he typically faded. Mustered up 3rd place on good nights. Carmichael absolutely did a 180 for 2001 and was suddenly the best. It was an amazing change.

I know this is off topic, but I've always felt that MC was in better shape in 2000 than he was in 2001. I've re-watched those years back to back many times and his overall strength, speed, aggressiveness... the whole package looked better in 2000. But hey, 7 championships, getting older... He probably thought he had the field covered again anyway. MC's best performance in 2001 was Las Vegas. Yes he lost, but he showed something that race that he didn't/couldn't for the past 12 races by running RC's pace and staying with him until the end.

Then MC trained his ass off for 2002, looked super cut and ready and he couldn't even hold on for 10 laps at the start of the season. A secret (at the time) back injury and/or over-training ended his season before it even started. Then the KTM dislocated hip crash before 2003 and it was all she wrote.
Sorry, what I thought was being implied, I guess I was not specific enough. After he finally rounded into form and beat McGrath in 2001 he never lost a championship again... that he lined up to, in 2004 he blew out his ACL in the off season. I didn't say RC was MC's main competition in 2000, I said that McGrath beat Carmichael flat out that year and won the championship, while Carmichael won 1 race. Winning one race doesn't make it seem like he's the main competition.
reded
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reded 9/27/2017 5:51pm
9/27/2017 5:51pm
Probably the most influential in terms of bike sales in the last 35 years. I know he's sold me on a few.


Tuffy
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Tuffy 9/27/2017 5:55pm
9/27/2017 5:55pm
Bad Brad Lackey
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BMSOBx2 9/27/2017 7:47pm
9/27/2017 7:47pm
FWYT wrote:
Bruce Brown
Hmmmmm, I hadn't thought of that. Good choice.
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ccullins76 9/27/2017 7:52pm
9/27/2017 7:52pm
Great riders will come and go, but without Mike Goodwin inventing Supercross we wouldn't be seeing them on TV.

Pit Row

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cbuehler767
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cbuehler767 9/27/2017 7:55pm
9/27/2017 7:55pm
Brad460 wrote:
Damon Bradshaw
Fuck yeah! Like someone said, it depends when you grew up. But for a short window of time Bradshaw was the coolest, baddest motherfucker on the planet. When Bradshaw switched to AXO gear with new Shoei VFX, the epitome of cool.
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SoCalMX70 9/27/2017 7:58pm
9/27/2017 7:58pm
drt410 wrote:
Sorry, what I thought was being implied, I guess I was not specific enough. After he finally rounded into form and beat McGrath in 2001 he...
Sorry, what I thought was being implied, I guess I was not specific enough. After he finally rounded into form and beat McGrath in 2001 he never lost a championship again... that he lined up to, in 2004 he blew out his ACL in the off season. I didn't say RC was MC's main competition in 2000, I said that McGrath beat Carmichael flat out that year and won the championship, while Carmichael won 1 race. Winning one race doesn't make it seem like he's the main competition.
We are on the same page. I went off on a tangent late in the evening...Blink
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cbuehler767 9/27/2017 8:03pm
9/27/2017 8:03pm
RJ was HUGE
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redrider400 9/27/2017 8:24pm
9/27/2017 8:24pm
100% Stewart. Everyone rides like him now. No one did before.
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kzizok 9/27/2017 8:35pm
9/27/2017 8:35pm Edited Date/Time 9/27/2017 9:31pm
Soichiro Honda co. (think EF Hutton) and successors. If, we are still talking about most influential and not a popularity contest.
Monk
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Monk 9/27/2017 9:28pm
9/27/2017 9:28pm
Pete Fox, consider every rider and every company that's not a manufacturer. Fox is the single biggest thing to come out of MX. Literally the McDonalds of Motocross...
motoarmageddon 9/27/2017 9:34pm
9/27/2017 9:34pm
Jody Weisel unfortunately has been the most influential man in American mx. Everything will change when he retires.
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waitn4 9/27/2017 10:19pm
9/27/2017 10:19pm
snackfedbear wrote:
Brett Michaels without a doubt
Omg just when I had finally forgotten about that when watching supercross
speedman
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speedman 9/28/2017 2:57am
9/28/2017 2:57am
Lucien Tilkens is on the short list.

Without him, we would be slower and even more crippled. Even if he initially misunderstood what he'd created.
OT
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OT 9/28/2017 3:24am
9/28/2017 3:24am
MC
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RandyS 9/28/2017 7:17am
9/28/2017 7:17am
No single rider has had more of an impact on the direction of the sport in any era than MC. The other eras had a multitude of riders influencing their era, the 90s had Jeremy McGrath alone as the main driving force.
RandyS
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RandyS 9/28/2017 7:19am
9/28/2017 7:19am
Monk wrote:
Pete Fox, consider every rider and every company that's not a manufacturer. Fox is the single biggest thing to come out of MX. Literally the McDonalds...
Pete Fox, consider every rider and every company that's not a manufacturer. Fox is the single biggest thing to come out of MX. Literally the McDonalds of Motocross...
Jim Jannard says no.

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